The week that was in Nintendo news (JAN 20)

January 21, 2018

I’ve been struck by many gaming news stories this past week and darn it! There was just no time to cover them all. Here’s some of the Nintendo highlights:

Nintendo Labo:
Nintendo promised a big announcement. What we got was cardboard and memes.

Nintendo labo is a new series of interactive games where you get to build the device you need to play out of cardboard. Then the motion sensors, camera and other wizardry inside the joycon are connected to that cardboard toy. The end product is you get to make your own working keyboard, fishing rod, or even your own robot suit. There’s even a cute little joycon powered car.

Personally, I’m excited for it. The potential is there for something very fun to do with families.
Plus Nintendo making plans and patterns available free online, means parents won’t be terrified about paying shipping for extra parts.

Sure took us by surprise though!

Splatoon 2 bigger than Mario?
Japan loves handheld systems, so the unique Switch is doing very well over there. Yet one game stands out above all. Japan has gone absolutely nuts for Splatoon 2, and Media Create Sales are reporting that it has now sold two million copies there in just six months.

This is the first time since the Wii days where a game that can be played on a home console has sold two million copies in Japan. No game released after 2010 has achieved that feat up until now.

Although the handheld options of the Switch make it a bit different to most home consoles, this is a hugely impressive feat. Even without including bundle sales, Splatoon 2 is on track to outsell many other blockbusters of the past ten years. For example, the combined PS3 and PS4 sales of GTA V in Japan have been massively outsold by a game about splatting people with paint.

Its mind blowing to realise that the Splatoon series is even bigger than Mario Kart in Japan.
At this rate it looks like not even Mario Odyssey can catch up to the mega success of Splatoon 2.
The only game I can see catching up to Splatoon 2 in Japan any time soon is Animal Crossing. I bet Nintendo is looking forward to getting more of that sweet coin.
Although, when Pokemon launches in the distant future we might actually find out if its possible to drown in a money bath.

Nintendo mini-direct: Weird how Nintendo doing a monthly update on what’s coming out can draw so much attention. A series of vague tweets including a picture of Chibi Robo being on fire amused the internet greatly, before those churning in the Nintendo rumour mill finally figured out a new Nintendo Direct was about to appear without official warning.
The ramblings of the mad people in the Nintendo community turned out to be right for a change!

Highlights for me were new Switch games getting announced. These included Dark Souls, The World Ends With You, something that looks like a decent Mario Tennis game. A re-release of the excellent Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze was also announced with the addition of Funky Kong, who is essentially the easy mode that game sorely needs. Finally, I’ll be able to find people brave enough to play that game with me! Did I mention that Dark Souls and The World Ends With you are coming to Switch? Getting two of the finest games ever made released on your system is definitely a plus.

The other big rumour going around is that Nintendo’s paid online service, Switch Online, will launch at the same time as a new Super Smash Bros game later this year. Will the fans end up being right again?

If we want to delve even deeper into the conspiracy theories, there’s been a suggestion that the new Super Smash Brothers game will be announced at the end of the Genesis 5 Smash tournament being held right now. We will keep you updated if anything happens.